I Spoke to Thee
I Spoke to Thee - meaning Summary
From Smile to Sword
The speaker addresses an unresponsive beloved, trying different languages of intimacy—smile, song, soul—then resorting to a sword. Each attempt meets silence and is countered by an image that reframes the addressee (music, vase, dream, tomb). The poem traces escalation from affectionate outreach to confrontational finality, asking whether life, love, and death can be recognized when the other remains inscrutable and motionless.
Read Complete Analysesi spoke to thee with a smile and thou didst not answer thy mouth is as a chord of crimson music Come hither O thou,is life not a smile? i spoke to thee with a song and thou didst not listen thine eyes are as a vase of divine silence Come hither O thou, is life not a song? i spoke to thee with a soul and thou didst not wonder thy face is as a dream locked in white fragrance Come hither O thou,is life not love? i speak to thee with a sword and thou art silent thy breast is as a tomb softer than flowers Come hither O thou,is love not death?
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